Abbott's Supera Stent Approved in the U.S. - Analyst Blog

By: Zacks.com

Posted: 3/31/2014 5:50:00 PM

Referenced Stocks: ABBV;ABT;LCI;SHPG

Abbott Laboratories
(
ABT
) received a boost for its vascular portfolio when it announced
that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its
Supera peripheral stent system for the treatment of people with
blocked blood vessels in the upper leg caused by peripheral
artery disease (PAD).

The FDA approval was supported by encouraging data from the
SUPERB trial which showed that the Supera stent was highly
effective in opening up blocked blood vessels in the upper leg,
even in difficult cases.

Moreover, it was observed that there were no stent fractures
during the first year following the treatment with the Supera
stent and at two years there was a very low stent fracture rate
of 0.5%.

We note that Abbott Labs acquired Supera stent through the
acquisition of IDEV Technologies in Aug 2013. The Supera stent
already carries a CE mark in Europe for treating blocked blood
vessels caused by PAD.

Hence, an approval in the U.S. will further boost vascular
sales. The vascular business is an important part of Abbott
Labs' product portfolio and generated sales of $3.0 billion in
2013, down 1.5% from 2012. The vascular portfolio of Abbott Labs
already boasts of drug eluting stents such as Xience series and
Absorb.

Abbott Labs is continuously working to boost its vascular
products portfolio and expects to launch several products in the
next few years. The continued rollout of Absorb and Xience
Xpedition along with new products such as Supera stents will
further strengthen Abbott Labs' vascular portfolio in 2014.

We remind investors that Abbott Labs became a diversified
medical products company focusing on branded generic
pharmaceutical, medical devices, diagnostic and nutritional
businesses following the separation of its research-based
pharmaceuticals business into a new company,
AbbVie Inc.
(
ABBV
), in Jan 2013.

The business environment was challenging in 2013 due to
austerity measures undertaken by developed markets and weak
economic conditions elsewhere. We believe Abbott Labs'
diversification in varied business lines will enable the company
to counter the challenging business environment and maintain
top-line growth.